


Temporal Voices

by Alley_Walk (AlleyWalk_writes)



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alma Karma & Yuu friendship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Both of them, Dreamwalking, F/M, Gen, Innocence Symbolism, Kanda Yuu Swears a Lot, Lab 7, Lab 7 is its own trigger warning, M/M, Nonbinary Alma Karma, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:14:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24554491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlleyWalk_writes/pseuds/Alley_Walk
Summary: “When are we going down to breakfast? I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty hungry.”Crown Clown said.On cue, Yuu’s stomach growled.“Crown the stomach whisperer. All of the conspiracy theories have finally been confirmed.”Iron Hammer whispered reverently, and Yuu had the strange sensation of Crown Clown smacking him with his cloak.~(OR: The one where Lavi, Lenalee, Allen and Kanda time travel back to the past, and end up stuck in Yuu’s head. Shenanigans ensue.)
Relationships: Alma Karma & Allen, Kanda Yuu/Allen Walker, Kanda Yuu/Alma Karma, Lavi/Lenalee Lee, Yuu & Alma Karma, Yuu & Kanda Yuu & Allen Walker & Lenalee Lee & Lavi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	1. bane

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y'all! So, I got out of the DGM fandom for a while, so this has been sitting in my Docs for a couple months. I finally decided to post it, since chapter 2 is finished and I think I'll post that once I've ironed out chapter three.
> 
> For reference, "Yuu," is a completely different person than "Kanda." He's basically the original Yuu in this timeline, with a bit more character development considering he's lived with these voices in his head for his whole life.
> 
> Anything else you want me to explain to you, I can, at least w/o giving away spoilers! :x
> 
> Read on, as I can't currently think of any tw's!

Yuu trod along the dirt road laid out before him, digging his toes into the dirt with the path flat and smooth beneath his feet. The deciduous trees loomed above him, old giants with their bodies pressed tightly together, their branches interwoven above his head, leaves rustling in the breeze as sunlight dappled on the ground. He heard a whisper on the breeze and his steps quickened. He took a turn down the path and ducked down underneath the upraised roots of the trees, the roots grabbing at the back of his shirt, tugging on his hair playfully as dirt trickled down his neck. A hole opened up out of the ground to swallow him, and Yuu ducked and rolled down into it, landing in an undignified heap in a patch of lush grass and vibrant flowers.

Yuu rolled to his feet, rubbing at his elbow with a grimace. He glanced around. The cave was unnaturally lit and the patch of grass he was standing in sat next to a pool of water. Next to it was a small round table with several decks of cards, knives, as well as several dirty plates and dishes stacked up on top of it. There was no sink for cleaning it, which Yuu thought was fucking stupid. Next to the table was a merrily burning fireplace, and glowing purple crystals growing from the moss covered walls lit the area in a hopelessly illogical ambience. 

Yuu sat at the wooden table with his arms crossed and waited, jiggling his foot impatiently. He didn’t have to wait long. Silver leaves sprouted up from the ground, incandescent flower petals blooming, opening to reveal a glowing silver lotus blossom watching him from the patch of grass. The soft petals twitched slightly as they recognized him, the flower tilting in his direction.

“Yuu?”

Yuu perked up a bit, straightening in his seat. “Mugen.” He returned, keeping an air of casual indifference. The lotus flower collapsed into itself, melting into a pool of gleaming silver. The pool rippled before it retreated, gaining shape and form before it took wing with the proud feathers of a predatory bird, gliding across the space between them to land on the table next to Yuu. Yuu side eyed Mugen and slid a bit closer to him, hoping to fuck that the observant Alter wouldn’t notice. Mugen side eyed him back, shifting his wings as he folded them against his back, and Yuu could almost feel his raised eyebrow. Yuu scowled, folding his arms across his chest. “What?” He snapped, feeling defensive.

Mugen tilted his head, and fuck, that was definitely amusement glinting in his blue eyes. Yuu’s face burned. He looked away. They had just started meeting physically and fuck if Yuu wasn’t a little _too_ glad of that. He felt something cold press against his shoulder, a featherlight touch as Mugen pressed his small body against him. Yuu blinked at him. 

“Brat.”

Mugen said in the same fond tone he would call Crown Clown an idiot. Warmed, Yuu set a hand on Mugen’s head. Mugen tolerated it with grace.

"The others should be here soon.”

Mugen reassured, relaxing Yuu further. Mugen stiffened and pulled away just as the hearthfire burst to life in a blaze of stiflingly hot flames, the fire surging out of the hearth as it swirled in the air, a scorching inferno. The fire stretched and grew, lightning crackling inside the fire’s depths as flaming paws touched down on the stony ground and Iron Hammer gave a cat-like stretch, the large feline hopping up onto the tabletop across from Yuu and giving him a fanged grin.

“Heeeey, Yuu~!”

Yuu smirked at him and scratched him behind the ears, while Mugen bristled and took a swipe at his fiery snout with his talons.

“Shut the fuck up, Rabbit!”

Iron Hammer yelped and scrambled away.

“Why? It’s not like I was talking to _Yuu_ .”

He joked weakly, only for Mugen to take to the air and dive towards him with a screech of fury. 

“I’M GOING TO FILLET YOU LIKE A FISH!”

“W-WHY DON’T YUU DO THAT TO _YUU_ INSTEAD?!”

Yuu shook his head. The fucked up things his brain came up with would never cease to amuse him. It wasn’t like it was anything unusual. If no one else had fucked up brain Alters in their head, they really should have fucking said something by now. Yuu looked up as Dark Boots appeared at his side. Unlike Mugen, whose form shifted with his mood, and Iron Hammer, whose form changed with each meeting, Dark Boot’s form stayed the same throughout. She took the shape of a young girl, her body made of clear blue water while a cascade of silvery blue wind made up her long hair that fell down her back, shifting with her every emotion. Her hair was twitching with annoyance with a faint fond tint to it at this moment as she huffed and stalked over towards Yuu’s two Alters, separating them quickly with two well timed blasts of wind.

“Stop it, both of you! You’re setting a bad example for Yuu.”

Dark Boots said, crossing her arms with a huff.

Crown Clown appeared out of the shadows, the dark suggestion of his body drifting forward with his silver and gold half mask tilted up slightly in amusement, his glowing white cloak rippling in an invisible breeze.

“I believe that between the four of us we’ve corrupted him quite enough already.”

He said teasingly, reaching out his arm and ruffling Yuu’s hair mischievously. Yuu scowled at him, though there was a warmth in his chest that he refused to acknowledge. 

“You mean you three have. I still haven’t gotten him to prank anyone.”

Iron Hammer grumped good naturedly. Dark Boots whacked the feline on the head, and there was the sound of sizzling as water met fire, and the two jerked away from each other. Dark Boots took a few steps back, grinding one foot into the ground while looking away, Iron Hammer looking completely unbothered except for the white mask that had tightened over his face, reaching over his feline forehead to cover his eyes, muzzle and jaw, giving him a faceless appearance that Yuu no longer found disturbing.

“Poker?”

Crown Clown offered, and Yuu perked up, despite the litany of groans from the others.

Mugen clicked his beak from where he was perched on one of the glowing crystals, the light casting his gleaming silver body in stark shadows.

“Fine. But leave me out of it.”

Crown Clown tilted his mask, a challenging gleam in the eerie blue glow of his eyes.

“Oh, really? Are you that scared you’ll lose?”

He challenged, and Mugen bristled. Yuu suddenly felt cold all over, and he shivered. There was an odd sensation on his cheek, and he batted it away, blinking as his eyes suddenly felt unfocused. He cried out, feeling as if he had been plunged into a pool of cold water. He blinked and for a moment he saw someone with dark hair looming over him. He blinked again and it was gone. Crown Clown looked at him, a concerned tilt to his mask, but instead of hearing his voice, he heard Alma’s. “Yuu, c’mon, wake up already!”

Yuu opened his eyes. He blinked, his face scrunching up in confusion. Why was he all wet? Pulling back the sopping wet covers, he shivered slightly, wringing his hair out with a scowl. It was fucking freezing in here. “Oh good, you’re finally awake!” Alma chirped, though they had a devious smile on their face that suggested that they might have been the one to help with that. Yuu glared at them in reproach and swung his legs over the side of their bed, untucking the now fucking useless sheets and bedcovers and throwing them on the floor in a wet heap. He hoped Alma remembered to mention it to someone, because Yuu sure as hell won’t.

_“Maybe you should. Alma can be sort of forgetful sometimes.”_ Dark Boots suggested thoughtfully.

Mugen stayed quiet, but Yuu could sense that he agreed even as he pulled back a bit from everyone else, something pensive threading through his thoughts.

_I don’t really care._ Yuu said with a snort. Alma glanced at him in the midst of pulling on a shirt, something fondly exasperated in their gaze that made the warm feeling in Yuu’s chest come back. He glanced away, embarrassed as he ran a hairbrush through his long hair. Dark Boots and Mugen had both encouraged him to grow it out, and it was currently a little bit past his shoulders. He found it annoying to deal with, but it was oddly soothing to run a hairbrush through his hair.

_“When are we going down to breakfast? I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty hungry.”_ Crown Clown said.

On cue, Yuu’s stomach growled.

_“Crown the stomach whisperer. All of the conspiracy theories have finally been confirmed.”_ Iron Hammer whispered reverently, and Yuu had the strange sensation of Crown Clown smacking him with his cloak.

Yuu yawned as he slipped his house slippers on, stretching his arms up above his head and feeling his back give a satisfying pop. “Yuu, don’t forget to take your medicine!” Alma called, and Yuu scowled at them. _I hate that fucking stuff._

“I know you hate it,” Alma said placatingly, echoing Yuu’s thoughts, “but it’s medicine so you need to take it.”

Yuu sighed, giving in. _Fine._

_“Use your words, Yuu.”_ Dark Boots chided.

Yuu frowned, brows furrowed in confusion. _Why? They understand me just fine._

Dark Boots sighed, but he could feel her amused smile. _“Nevermind.”_

Alma handed over the medicine and a hopefully clean spoon which Yuu poured some of the medicine into. He made a face at it and then downed it in one swallow, the disgusting taste and texture sliding down his throat about as easily as the first time. Which was to say _not_ . Yuu swallowed it with difficulty, trying not to gag. Recapping the bottle and slamming it down on the bedside table, Yuu gave Alma a surly glance. _Come on, let’s go already._

Alma beamed at him.

* * *

By the time they made it to the mess hall, Yuu’s head was pounding, his stomach churning with an unfortunately familiar nausea. His head felt like it had been shoved through a brick and then bashed against a wall with fucking asperity. If he didn’t know it was medicine he would think it was poison. He followed Alma out of habit and resisted the urge to flinch and cover his ears at the sound of the mess hall around him. It was all just so _loud_. The roar of voices yelling and talking over each other, the clink of cutlery and chopsticks against plates and bowls in the morning rush, even the sounds of breathing and more than a hundred heartbeats thrumming in his ears. 

What was even more overwhelming were the auras that Yuu could sense. They flooded the air around him, bright colors dancing in the air as they broadcasted people’s emotions for Yuu’s eyes to see. Mugen had been the one to teach him how to see them, as he’d already been sensing them unconsciously. He’d warned that it would be disorienting at first, but though Yuu had listened, what he’d expected to be disorienting had nothing on the eye bleeding colors that constantly assaulted his retinas wherever he looked. 

Yuu focused himself on Alma’s aura, a familiar purple-blue that always had a calming effect on him. He found that they were at the front of the line, Alma talking happily with Zhu, who patted them on the head and then turned to Yuu, his eyes sharp. “And how are you today, Yuu?”

Yuu scowled mulishly at him through his pounding headache. _I’m fucking fine. Why are you even asking?_

Alma sent him a concerned look. “Are you sure, Yuu?” When Zhu gave them a questioning look they explained with a pout, “He says he’s fine but he isn’t acting like it.”

Zhu chuckled. “I’ll take your word for it. Maybe if he’s so dead set against talking he should learn CSL.”

“CSL? What’s that?” Alma asked curiously. Yuu had to admit he was curious too. Usually his thoughts would pipe up with an explanation by now, but they had been conspicuously absent. They must not want to experience his pain along with him, the fuckers.

Zhu turned as he began putting together Alma’s chicken salad, their favorite food due to the mayonaise. There was the sound of boiling water hissing as he dropped Yuu’s soba noodles inside. “It’s a type of language, except you talk with your hands instead.” Zhu explained, and Alma brightened, peppering Zhu with excited questions.

When the food was ready, Yuu could hardly stomach it.

* * *

Cold water lapped against Yuu’s ankles, his whole body shaking with fatigue as goosebumps traveled across his arms and down his chest. He heard Alma’s piercing scream and grit his teeth, anger bubbling up in the back of his throat. He stared down his living nightmare, the angelic winged torso giving off a soft glow that pierced through the shadows of the syncro testing chamber. 

“Apostle, you must continue.” The CROW behind him said.

Yuu laughed, because he couldn’t escape this. Couldn’t escape this living nightmare any more than he could escape that heavy, oppressive feeling pressing down on his chest, making everything, everything hopeless and unforgivable. 

He stared down his living nightmare, and all he could feel was so much hate. So much **̷̺͓͒͋̔̔f̴̳̉ȇ̴̱̙̫̐a̴̬͛́͠r̴̳̝̬͋ͅ.̸̣̆̈́̓͝**

Yuu reached out towards the Innocence.

He screamed.

* * *

“You took your medicine, right Yuu?” Doctor Edgar asked as he was wrapping bandages around Yuu’s arms, the tingle of the Doctor’s magic soothing on his raw and abused skin. Yuu wondered just what exactly it was doing to him. He wondered that a lot lately.

Yuu nodded. Seeing the Doctor was still waiting for a verbal answer, Yuu sighed in annoyance. Ugh, words. Thinking was much easier. “Of fucking course I did. Why?” 

Instead of chastising him for the swear, Doctor Edgar gave him a distracted smile. “Just checking.” He said, and there was something in his eyes that Yuu couldn’t read.

Yuu narrowed his eyes suspiciously. 

In the end he brushed it off.

It was probably nothing.

* * *

Alma Karma played a small harmonica in the birthing chamber, sitting cross-legged on a blanket while they clumsily played out the notes. For a moment they swore they saw movement in one of the birthing pits, and Alma grinned. They couldn’t wait.

* * *

_“C’mon Yuu, just one prank! At least wear an eyepatch!”_ Iron Hammer weedled.

Yuu squinted, trying not to shiver in the cold of the birthing chamber. _A fucking what?_

When he asked Doctor Edgar for an eyepatch the man had looked faintly disturbed. 

His medication was upped a few days later.

He never did get the eyepatch.

* * *

Yuu lived in a perpetual fog each day. His head ached like some idiot was taking a pickaxe to it, his stomach constantly cramping with pain. He ate what he could of what Alma set in front of him, but he could only eat so much before his stomach rebelled. The days began to blur together, and it was only through Doctor Edgar’s insistence that Yuu continued to take the medicine with Alma’s help. 

Yuu hadn’t heard from any of his Alters in days. 

* * *

Alma stared down at the medicine bottle in their hands. They had just given a dose to Yuu, and it had felt as though they were watching poison slip down his throat, administered by their own hand. Alma’s hands shook, and they gripped the bottle tightly in their hands, blinking back the tears and trying not to cry. Yuu had just fallen back asleep, and they couldn’t afford to wake him up, not for this.

Medicine was supposed to make you feel better, but this medicine was _bad_. Alma wasn’t stupid; whatever they were doing to Yuu with this medicine needed to be nipped in the bud. An angry, overprotective part of Alma felt that doing things in a more direct way would be easier. What that direct way was Alma wasn’t certain.

But they knew this. They had to protect Yuu.

Resolve hardening, Alma uncapped the bottle and poured its contents into the toilet. They rinsed it out thoroughly and then replaced it with the maple syrup they’d purloined from the kitchens while everyone else slept. It had about the same color and consistency as the regular medicine, so as long as no one tasted it, it should be foolproof.

With a devious smile Alma left the bathroom and put the medicine on the nightstand, going over to wake up Yuu for breakfast.


	2. Meet 'n Greet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuu wakes up in a pissy mood. Alma meets a new face as seeds of doubt grow in their mind. And Allen is Very Confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all!
> 
> I finished chapter 3, so I figured it was time to update! ^_^
> 
> I can't think of any possible trigger warnings, so enjoy!

Yuu felt the fog begin to disperse slowly between doses each day. He found himself a bit more coherent, a bit more aware of his surroundings each day. And then one day the fog was abruptly attacked. A protective force sliced the fog in two with one downward strike, explosions ringing throughout his mindspace as an inferno of fire and wind burned the rest of it to nothing but ash. A tingling warmth spread through his veins, and he found himself snapping to full cognizance in his and Alma’s bedroom, Alma sitting close beside him with a protective look in their eyes.

_ “Take that, you fuck!” _ Mugen raged, all sharp edges and protective anger. Yuu felt relief and anger in equal measures.

_ Where the hell were you? _ He accused.

_ “I’m sorry, Yuu. That medicine Doctor Edgar had you taking was blocking us out. We were barely able to clear it from your system as it is.” _ Crown Clown said apologetically. 

_ Oh. _ Yuu said, not sure what else to say.

Yuu blinked as Alma pushed some soba in front of him on a nearby tray. What had he been, bedridden? “Eat some of this, alright Yuu?” Alma met his eyes as if searching for something. Yuu felt suddenly hurt, remembering how Alma had continued to give him the medicine. He scowled, looking away.

“You’re awake!” Alma said with a bounce on the bed. “Finally! It seemed like it took you forever to wake up!” Alma grinned at him, but Yuu scowled and turned away. The betrayal of trust stung more than it should have. He should never have trusted them.

There was a moment of silence. “I-I’m  _ sorry _ , Yuu. I shouldn’t have agreed to give you the medicine, o-or kept giving it to you when you became sick. I-It’s just that the scientists have always treated me well, they even helped me become your friend–” Yuu whipped his head around and shot them an incredulous look. Alma laughed sheepishly, a few tears trickling down their face. Their voice wobbled as they went on, “I know, it’s silly. But they really did give me a lot of advice. It… it made me trust them.” Alma looked down, sniffling and wiping their face before they began picking at the bedspread, saying quietly, “Probably more than I should have.”

Yuu stopped to think about that for a moment, his Alters a comforting presence inside his mind. He didn’t want to admit it, but he… had trusted them too. At least, when it came to matters of his health. He wouldn’t have taken the medicine in the first place if he hadn’t. The medicine hadn’t even made his Alters nervous, despite their warnings against trusting people too much here. And in the end it hadn’t really been Alma doing anything. They may have wielded the spoon and the bottle, but the scientists of lab 7 were the ones pulling the strings.

And that made Yuu angry. Angry for Alma, and angry for himself.

Yuu placed a hand on Alma’s shoulder, making them look up and meet his eyes. “I forgive you.” Yuu said, his voice hoarse from disuse, making Alma break out into a bright smile.

“Yuu, you spoke!” They said.

Yuu contemplated it and then shrugged. “So?”

Alma tackled him in a hug, nearly forgetting the tray of soba until Yuu pushed them off with a grunt in order to save his food. After Yuu had finished eating they both sobered.

“You’re going to have to act like you’re still on the medicine until we can convince Doctor Edgar to take you off of it.” Yuu frowned at them, so Alma explained in a whisper, “I replaced the medicine with maple syrup!”

Yuu wrinkled his nose, making Alma laugh. Then he frowned at Alma and raised an eyebrow.  _ What are we going to do about Doctor Edgar? _

Alma sighed, as if disappointed by his silence. “I’m sure that he can be reasoned with?” Alma said, and then winced.

Yuu sighed, resigned to being bedridden.

* * *

Alma went through their regular routine with no small amount of nerves. They grabbed their blanket from their room, and gathered some snacks from the kitchen, bringing along some books along with their harmonica. The blanket was a special blanket that they had gotten from Doctor Edgar, it was blue and had green ghosts on them. Alma had decided right then that Doctor Edgar was their favorite person, at least until Yuu came along. Now that decision tasted like ash on their tongue, and Alma almost didn’t take the blanket with them before they remembered what Yuu had said to them.

“Be the exact same person you were before I woke up. The same personality, mental state, everything. Don’t let any of your actual emotions ever show on your face.” Yuu had taught them how to smile, how to laugh when they didn’t really mean it. The emotions looked foriegn on Yuu’s face, and Alma wondered just what kind of super secret spy books Yuu was reading to be able to smile like that.

It must have lots of pictures. 

Alma set themselves up by a now familiar pool, setting the blanket on the ground and then throwing the rest of the fabric over their shoulders, the large blanket cocooning them in their own warmth. Alma didn’t feel much like talking today, so they put the harmonica to their lips and began to play. They didn’t really know any songs so they mostly just played a random tune, going with the notes.

They wished Yuu was here…

All of the sudden the strange interlocking runes inscribed on the floor next to him glowed with a bright orange-yellow light, giving off a pulse of power that made the hairs on Alma’s arms stand on end. The rune’s glowing stopped, and Alma blinked the light from their eyes, the runes beneath them suddenly looking old and faded. Alma frowned, but was stopped from further investigation when they heard a sloshing sound emerging from within the water, and they turned. 

There was a boy with long, white hair and blue eyes a couple shades lighter than Alma’s poking his head out of the water. Alma noticed a strange angular scar on the left side of his face before the boy noticed their attention and quickly ducked down back into the water, his face half submerged and one of his hands grasping the edge of the pit with his eyes peering up at them curiously. Alma smiled. “Hi, I’m Alma Karma! It’s great to finally meet you.” The boy blinked and tilted his head, and then pointed to himself. Alma perked up. “Oh, your name’s Allen. At least, that’s what the scientists say…” 

Allen blinked. Then he pulled himself forward and hauled himself out of the water, shivering in the cold of the birthing chamber. They noticed absently that the boy only had one arm, the other stopping a bit below the shoulder. Shrugging it off, Alma wrapped their blanket around him as alarms began to blare overhead, the soaking wet boy cringing at the noise. “It’s okay,” Alma soothed, “It’s just a loud noise.”

Allen’s mouth twitched. “Loud noise  _ least _ okay.” He said, and Alma’s eyes widened, surprised and impressed. It had taken them nearly half a day to string two words together, and Yuu still wasn’t talking, though Alma thought that was more out of personal preference than anything else on his part.

Alma heard the echo of footsteps coming towards them just as he heard Doctor Tui call sharply, “Alma, get away from there!” Alma turned as the scientists swarmed them like a hoard of locusts.  _ Or ravenous birds, _ they thought a bit protectively.

“Alma, go back to your room. We’ll take it from here.” Doctor Edgar said, and while he sounded reassuring, his smile was strained.

A seed of suspicion took root within Alma’s mind, and Alma smiled bashfully at the Doctor. “I’m sorry, Doctor Tui, Doctor Edgar. I was just making sure he felt alright. He was scared by the loud noise.”

The scientists visibly relaxed, and Alma took Allen’s hand in a silent goodbye, squeezing it gently. It hurt their heart to just turn and walk away, but they did it.

Alma blinked tears from their eyes.

They needed Yuu.

* * *

Not knowing what anything was was really frustrating, at least, from Allen’s point of view. Of course, Allen had no name for these feelings as it sighed with a small pout, the texture of the strange things trapping its body in warmth and softness comforting as the snip-snip-snipping sounds gradually made its head feel lighter and lighter. When it was finished and the strange itchy things that had fallen onto its shoulders were brushed away, the thing-that-was-it moved expertly out of the strange space as another  _ it _ walked into the room. Allen felt sort of intimidated, but it wasn’t sure why.

If Allen knew what a face was, it would know that this person had just smiled. As it was it found itself mimicking the gesture for no reason it could understand. “Hello, my name is Tui Chan. Welcome to Lab 7.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da~! Allen is here! 
> 
> Quick note: This will not be some OC taking Allen's place; it will just take time for his personality to fully form, because he's, y'know, just woken up. There's also an actual reason he's here instead of being like how he was in canon, but shh!! secret... 
> 
> Anywho, see y'all next chapter! ^_^


End file.
